


Jughead and Betty's Epic Detour

by Browneyesparker



Series: Bughead Stories [9]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: AU, Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Open Road, Riverdale, Romance, bughead - Freeform, friends to something more, road trip au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2018-12-20 17:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11925525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyesparker/pseuds/Browneyesparker
Summary: Jughead and Betty take the road trip that Archie and Jughead were supposed to take together. Rated T.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_“We do not take a trip. A trip takes us.”_

**John Steinbeck, “Travels With Charley”**

“I’ll go with you,” Betty Cooper said on July 5th, a day later than Jughead Jones had been planning on leaving for his road trip with Archie Andrews.

Jughead shook his head. “I was just thinking about canceling it. I don’t think your mother would be too thrilled if she knew you and I were going on a road trip together. She’d probably think I was trying to get you to sleep with me or something like that.”

“I’m pretty sure that she’d be more worried if I was going to drive in a car with Archie,” Betty answered. “She knows it isn’t like _that_ between me and you. Come on Juggie, I know I’m not Archie but it could still be fun.”

That was true. She had a lot going for her too. Her taste in music and audiobooks was better compared to his other best friend’s. She wasn’t girl crazy (or even boy crazy for that matter, so he wouldn’t have to listen to non-stop chatter about who she thought was hot.) Thanks to her love for Nancy Drew and her experience with the Girl Scouts, she was handy with an actual road map. She could also cook from practically nothing at all and there was the added bonus that she smelled better than Archie and she was good at making conversation.

Plus, she was available since her internship in New York City had been canceled last minute. She’d probably be alone for most of the summer too since her sister Polly was off with Jason Blossom and she didn’t have a lot of friends. Archie was too busy with what Jughead assumed was a secret girlfriend to bother with them.

“Okay! Okay!” Jughead finally agreed. “If you’re really serious, we can take the road trip together.”

What was the worst that could happen? His unrequited love for her would intensify? That was bound to happen even if they stayed put in Riverdale. She would suggest they go to the Twilight to see a movie or she’d bake him a strawberry rhubarb pie after they’d spent the day picking strawberries and she would steal his heart a little more. It was a battle he had been losing since the first day they had met and she had shared her gummy worms with him on the playground.

Maybe hours in the car with her would help him see all her bad qualities and habits and he would finally be able to stop loving her.

“When should we leave?” Betty asked her excitement was uncontainable and even a little irresistible.

“I already have all the supplies we could possibly need for the drive, so we could leave as soon as you have a bag packed,” Jughead answered. “But don’t you need to ask your parents for permission before we leave?”

Betty faltered. “I’ll stop by _the Register_ on my way home and talk to my father,” she answered. “He’ll say yes. They’ve been so busy dealing with Polly these days, they’ll probably be happy that I’m out of the way for the time being.”

“Just don’t mention we won’t have adult supervision,” Jughead advised. “Or the fact that I just got my driver’s license.”

Betty nodded, she was not an expert at sneaking out or lying to her parents because she’d never done it before but she kind of knew what to do because Polly had given her a detailed list about what to do. She had to give them just enough details to keep them satisfied.

“I know Jughead,” she said, patting his hand.

“And I know you don’t do stuff like this _ever_!” Jughead replied. “You could never be sneaky even if you tried!”

“Jug, I’ve got it covered!” Betty promised as she threw some money on the table and stood up. “I’ll meet you back here ASAP!”

“You better watch out,” Pop warned him as he came to collect the empty French fry baskets and milkshake glasses from Jughead and Betty’s table.

Jughead frowned. “What are you talking about Pop?”

Pop nodded towards the door. “It’s obvious you like her.”

“Who? Betty? Almost everybody likes Betty!” Jughead answered. “The people who don’t like her are crazy and jealous.”

“I’ve known you two since you were kids,” Pop reminded him. “I think you like her just a little bit more than a friend. You look at her with a look that I’ve seen you only reserve for cheeseburgers and pecan pie. Just be careful. Sometimes a road trip is just a road trip.”

“Pop, I _know_!”  Jughead tried to assure him. “I don’t have any delusions that she’ll ever see me as more than one of her best friends. But thank you for your concern.”

Pop patted him on the shoulder. “I don’t think Betty would ever, ever hurt anybody intentionally but I would hate for you to get hurt.”

Jughead nodded. “I know but I know what I’m doing. Betty and I are just two friends taking the road trip that I was supposed to take with Archie. Out of most of the people in my life, I’ve always been able to count on her. She has never let me down.”

Pop sighed. “I guess all I can do now is tell you to have a good time and to be nice to her. And come see me when you get back, I want to hear all about this epic adventure you’re going on.”

**.**

Betty was back exactly one hour later with a small suitcase in tow and a tote bag slung over her shoulder.

“We’re good to go!” She called as she hurried over to meet him, her flip-flops slapping the pavement. “Dad said it’ll be fine but that we have to get our own hotel rooms and I have to check in every day so he’ll know I’m still alive.”

“We’re camping under the stars one night,” Jughead told her.

“So, we’ll use separate sleeping bags then!” Betty answered. “And I won’t tell if you won’t.”

Jughead shook his head and lifted her suitcase into his car. “Ready to go?” he asked, slamming the trunk shut and opening the passenger door for her.

“Let’s get out of here,” Betty replied, sliding into his vintage Convertible, putting on a pair of oversized sunglasses.

Jughead turned the key in the ignition. He handed her his second-hand iPod. “You’re in charge of the music for right now,” he told her as he pulled out of Pop’s parking lot and onto the street.

Betty scrolled through his multiple playlists before selecting one named _Untitled_. A cover of _Bette Davis Eyes_ came over the speakers.

Jughead’s eyes widened slightly but he didn’t look away from the road stretched out in front of them. “You can play anything except _that_ playlist!” he said. “Please.”

“Is it for your girlfriend?” Betty teased as she went back to the menu of playlists.

“You know as well as I do that I don’t have a girlfriend,” Jughead retorted. “Just change it, _please_!”

“Fine!” Betty conceded, changing the music like he had asked her to. “So, what’s our first stop? Do you have a plan?”

“I kind of have a plan,” Jughead answered. “It’s just a road trip, we were kind of going to go wherever the road took us. Do you have anything wrong with that?”

“No!”

Jughead could tell she was lying. Betty hadn’t made a wrong move since she was a little girl and she always had a plan.

“We’re going to stop and see my mother and sister,” Jughead said after a second. “And I wanted to try to stop at some of the places that have been on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. I’ve mapped them all out.”

“Of course you did,” Betty answered affectionately. “Do your mom and sister know you’re coming?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to just drop in on them without any notice. Just in case they were busy or had other things going on,” Jughead replied. “They’ll be even happier when they see you’re with me. Jellybean keeps asking about you when I talk to her.”

Betty smiled. “Really?”

Jughead nodded. “I’m not just saying that either. She really does ask about you, she remembers how you used to watch the Disney Channel with her while you guys colored. I think it’s one of the highlights of her young life.”

“So, where else are going to go?” Betty asked.

“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

“Maybe we can stop in New York City and see if we can win lottery tickets to see _Hamilton_ ,” Betty suggested.

“I don’t know, Betts. Broadway isn’t really my thing,” Jughead answered.

“Driving around in beat up old cars without a plan isn’t really my thing,” Betty replied. “And yet, here we are. Besides even with the lottery, getting _Hamilton_ tickets is near impossible! Even _Taylor Swift_ couldn’t get tickets.”

“Listen, if you want to try and go see a Broadway show then we can do that,” Jughead told her. “I’m just not going to _love_ it.”

“You don’t need to love it,” Betty assured him. “You just need to sit through it! Oh and while we’re in New York, we should try and see where some of the romantic comedies were filmed!”

“How long do you think we’ll be in New York for exactly?” Jughead asked. “It costs a lot of money to stay in the city, you know.”

Betty didn’t _really_ know how much it cost to stay in the city. Because although the Coopers weren’t as wealthy as other families in Riverdale, she had never had to worry about anything. Whenever she had gone with her family to New York, her father had always been the one with the credit card. All she really had to think about was what to wear to whatever shows her parents had gotten tickets to see. Jughead knew this. He knew that she knew that he knew it.

“Sorry,” Betty said meekly. “I hadn’t thought about money. You know what, let’s skip New York City altogether.”

“We don’t have to skip it completely!” Jughead protested. “There are a couple of used bookstores I’d like to see.”

Betty perked up. _“Bookstores?”_ she repeated. “Oh, well. . . I _love_ bookstores.”

Jughead smirked. “I know. Remember? We’ve been friends for long, I pay attention to you.”

Betty smiled again, it lit up the whole car and smoothed her fingers over her skirt. Jughead turned his attention back to the road, he could hardly stand it when she was happy. It did things to him. He didn’t know how he was going to spend a whole trip with her because he knew she would be prone to bursts of incandescent joy. And sometimes _he_ would be responsible for it.

But it was too late to turn back. He couldn’t be an Indian giver, after all and take it back. Tell her to get out of the car and that she wasn’t allowed to go with him after all.

Besides, he had been really looking forward to going on this road trip. If he didn’t get it together, he wouldn’t be able to go because there was no way he could drive too far away without somebody with him.

He couldn’t do it without her. But she wasn’t a necessary evil.

Not by a long shot.

**.**

They made good time getting to Connecticut but were stuck in traffic once they got into the Constitution state.

“Maybe we should stop for now and leave first thing in the morning,” Betty proposed when it didn’t look like they were going to move much further down the highway.

“Ugh. I wanted to make it to New York by tonight,” Jughead said.

“Do you have a hotel reservation or something in New York?” Betty asked.

“No. . .”

Betty shrugged. “Well, then I don’t see why it’s so important why we make it there by _tonight_. You know, it’ll be fine if we get there by tomorrow. Half the fun of the journey is getting to the destination.”

“Sounds like Pinterest wisdom to me,” Jughead grumbled. “And not something you actually believe in personally.”

“I believe in _all_ helping encouragements,” Betty replied, beaming at him as she turned down the music and got her phone out. “I’m looking for a place to spend the night.”

“It’s the day after Fourth of July,” Jughead reminded her. “I highly doubt you’re going to find a vacancy in the kind of place you’re used to staying to.”

Betty looked at him and huffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that your typical bed & breakfasts might be full and we’re going to have to stay at a Motel 6 or something,” Jughead answered. “You know, rough it.”

“A Motel 6 is hardly roughing it,” Betty said.

“You’ve never stayed in one if you honestly believe that,” Jughead retorted.

“I don’t care if I have to ‘rough’ it. There’s no way I want to sit in traffic all night! There’s no way I’m going to let _you_ sit in traffic all night and try to stay awake!” Betty told him. “I’m just going to find the first available hotel. I don’t care what it is.”

“You will if there’s mold in the AC,” Jughead told her. “I read travel blogs.”

Betty made a face. “Eww.”

“Or if somebody killed themselves in their hotel room,” Jughead continued, gaining traction with bugging her. “I know all the signs for that, I can tell you whenever we get there.”

“I’ll book us into a Holiday Inn Express or Hampton Inn then,” Betty said, rolling her eyes.

“They kill themselves there too,” Jughead answered, smirking at her. “But like I said, I know all the signs. I can tell you what to look for.”

“Ugh, _Juggie_!” Betty said. “You know what, I don’t even care. We’re stopping for the night!”

Jughead was beginning to think maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to bring her with him after all when he released a powerful yawn.

“You’re making me tired!” He accused her jokingly.

“I am not!” Betty protested. “There’s a Holiday Inn Express five minutes away from where we are right now, I’m going to call and see if they have rooms for us to rent.”

“It’s not even six o’clock yet!” Jughead said.

“So, we can get dinner and do some exploring,” Betty answered. “But trust me, waiting out traffic will be better for both our peace of mind.”

Jughead sighed, he knew there was no arguing with Betty as soon as she set her mind on something. So, he asked her for directions to the Holiday Inn Express she wanted to stay in and plugged it into his GPS.

**.**

**Author’s Note:**


	2. Chapter 2

_“America runs on Dunkin’”_

Jughead hated to admit it but Betty had known what she was talking about. Fortified with a good night’s sleep and the hotel’s continental breakfast, he was much more ready to face a morning of driving. She was even more right about the situation of the traffic, it wasn’t as bad at five o’clock in the morning as it was at three o’clock in the afternoon.

Betty was sitting serenely in the passenger seat, looking through brochures that she’d collected in the hotel about attractions around Connecticut. She was completely aware of the fact that she had been right. An unspoken _I told you so_ hung in the air between them because she was classy enough not to say it aloud.

Jughead glanced at her. “Did you find any interesting tourist attractions?” he asked, making conversation.

“There’s a family theme park in Bristol,” Betty answered, reading from the brochure. “It’s said to be the oldest operating amusement park in the United States and is home to a 1927 wooden roller coaster and a 1911 carousel.”

“Sounds like loads of safe!” Jughead quipped as he turned up the radio dial and started to look for a station that didn’t suck because he was trying to preserve the battery on his phone just in case they needed GPS.

“Jug, I have my iPad and cell phone, we can just use one of those to listen to music instead of trying to find a station that will play decent music and not break for 15 minutes worth of commercials!” Betty offered.

Jughead shrugged. “Okay,” he agreed.

Betty ducked and got the bag at her feet, she shuffled through her diary, notebooks and books until she found her iPad. She plugged in the aux cord and typed in her passcode. “What are you in the mood for today? I have a whole playlist dedicated to New York City. We’ll have to skip a couple of songs though because I know you don’t love Taylor Swift.”

“I don’t mind Taylor Swift that much,” Jughead fibbed. “She really knows how to turn a lyric and I admire that. She’s just not my style of music. You can keep her on if you’d like though. I’m not going to judge you. . . _much_.”

Betty shoved him a little bit and laughed as she scrolled through her playlist of New York themed songs, purposefully skipping “Welcome to New York” and playing “I Guess the Lord Must Be in York City” instead.

“Remember when we went and saw _You’ve Got Mail_ at the Bijou?” Betty asked as she drummed her fingers on the seat.

“You forced me to go with you because you couldn’t find Archie even though he promised to take you and then you ate all my M&M's,” Jughead answered.

“You let me force you,” Betty reminded him, sighing. “Have you heard from him?”

“Nope. Not even after I texted him to say that you were going to come on the road trip with me instead. Why? Have _you_ heard anything from him?”

“No. I texted him too. Just to tell him that we’d both be out of town if he came looking for us or wanted to do something. I tried to call him but it went straight to voicemail. I had better luck getting in touch with Kevin to tell him what was going on.”

Jughead’s stomach twisted a little bit. He had almost forgotten that Betty was in love with Archie and pining for him.

“He’s probably very busy working for his dad,” Jughead told her. “He was supposed to do that this summer.”

But neither of them believed _that_ was true. Fred Andrews never kept anybody too busy especially not his son.

“He hasn’t said anything to you?” Betty asked. “About a new girlfriend? Guys do that kind of stuff, don’t they?”

Jughead frowned. “What sort of stuff are you talking about exactly?”

“I don’t know. I know you guys don’t exactly braid each other’s hair and paint each other’s nails. But isn’t locker room talk the equivalent of slumber party gossip?”

“No,” Jughead replied, focusing on the stretch of highway in front of him. “I mean, no Archie hasn’t said anything to me about a new girlfriend or ‘conquest’, or whatever you want to call it. We don’t exactly talk about that sort of stuff right now.”

Archie had stopped telling him about his girlfriends because there had been a time when Jughead hadn’t been able to keep any secrets from Betty because the two of them had _always_ been honest with each other. And Jughead had never been giving in telling about the girls he had liked. . . mostly because he had liked Betty. It had always been Betty and even if Archie _never_ liked her, he had been there first.

“I see,” Betty said, looking out the window.

Jughead bit the inside of his cheek to keep from asking her if she was always going to love Archie. If there was ever going to be a chance that she could move on - if not with him, with somebody else because he didn’t want to see her pining away for somebody who didn’t want her for the rest of their lives.

“If I did know. . . I would have told you,” Jughead said. “You know I could never keep a secret from you.”

Betty smiled at him, a bit sadly. “I know Juggie. I shouldn’t have asked. I wouldn’t want you to betray Archie. He is your best friend. . .”

“Eh, I’m not sure how good of friends we are right now,” Jughead replied.

“Yeah. . .”

Jughead cleared his throat when he saw a sign for Dunkin Donuts, ready for a subject change. “I don’t know about you Betts but I am in the mood for more coffee and a whole lot of doughnuts right now.”

Betty shook her head and rolled her eyes while she tried not to laugh. “We just ate breakfast though.”

“There’s always room for doughnuts,” Jughead replied, smirking at her.

“We haven’t even been driving for an hour yet!”

“I don’t think the point of the road trip is trying to be somewhere on time,” Jughead answered. “Just don’t worry about it! It’ll be okay.”

“Well, I guess I could go for a maple frosted doughnut,” Betty said. “If the option were available to me and now that I think about it, that hotel coffee was pretty terrible. The worst I’ve ever had actually and that’s saying something because one of my uncles only buys _Folgers_.”

““Folgers coffee! Oh the horror!” Jughead quipped, shuddering in mock disgust.

“You would never drink it yourself!” Betty retorted. “I know that for a fact, Mr. Coffee Snob.”

“That is true,” Jughead conceded, he might not have had a lot of money but the money he did make was not going to go to _Folgers_ of all people. He might have had a coffee habit but he wasn’t _that_ desperate either.

He knew Betty was aware of this too, she knew him so well.

“You realize Dunkin Donuts isn’t high quality coffee,” Betty pointed out.

“True,” Jughead agreed as he pulled off the highway and followed the directions on the blue sign that advertised food. “But it sure as hell beats _Folgers_.”

“You really need to stop saying that,” Betty told him. “The word Folgers is starting to sound funny and like it couldn’t possibly even be a word.”

Jughead shook his head and parked. “I think I want a full dozen of doughnuts,” he told her. “We can have them for the whole drive today.”

Betty shook her head and unbuckled before getting out to follow him. “Seriously?”

“I’m a growing boy!” Jughead defended himself.

Betty looked at her tall, lanky best friend and raised an eyebrow. “Where’s it all going?”

“So, we can’t all be Archie Andrews,” Jughead answered, holding the door open for her. “But then I have no aspirations to be a star football player either. So I guess it doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Ugh, my mom is going to kill me if I eat more than one doughnut. Change that, she’ll kill me if I eat even _one_!” Betty said. “She’s got me on this super strict ADHD diet combined with some another one to keep the weight off.”

“Well, here’s the thing Betts. Your mother is never going to find out!” Jughead replied. “Who’s going to tell her? Certainly not _me_!”

Since it was early morning, there was a whole bunch of people in front of them trying to get their own morning coffee and bagel fix.

“The line is really long,” Betty pointed out.

“I know I can see that. What are you so worried about? That your mother will start to follow us and drag you back home?”

“You don’t know how close to the truth that actually is,” Betty told him.

“I thought your father was okay with it though,” Jughead said as the line started to move forward.

“He was but that doesn’t stop him from not having any backbone when it comes to my mother,” Betty answered. “She can get him to do whatever she wants, I think it’s the reason why they’re still together. No other man on earth would let Alice Cooper get away with the things that he does.”

“Will you two move?” A pushy customer snapped. “You’re holding up the rest of the line.”

“Ooops, sorry!” Betty said, scooting up a little bit and lowering her voice. “Maybe we should change the subject? Keep things a little lighter on the trip?”

Jughead nodded. “Sure.”

Finally, it was their turn to order. Jughead spent an insane amount of time perusing the doughnuts before ordering a dozen that all included some sort of chocolate or rainbow sprinkles or a cream filling and a large, black iced coffee.

Betty asked for a medium vanilla iced coffee with cream and sugar and then they were on their way again.

**.**

They reached New York right before lunchtime. By then, Jughead was ready for something else to eat. So, they stopped at a place that was said to be one of the top ten places to get pizza in the city when they had plugged restaurants to get pizza into Google.

Betty ate two pieces while Jughead polished off the rest and then ordered a few more single slices to take with him.

She shook her head as they started to walk towards the bookstore.

“I’m a growing boy,” Jughead repeated the same thing from earlier that day.

Betty just shook her head again.

**.**

They spent the rest of their afternoon browsing at the bookstore.

Jughead was quite happy with his choice of travel companion because she didn’t rush him like Archie would have if he’d come along. She was just as content as him to stay in the dusty pages of the written word. They didn’t leave until closing time, their arms full of books they couldn’t really afford.

“We’ll just stay in a youth hostel,” Betty told him as they loaded their purchases into the trunk. “It doesn’t cost much money and they’ll have to let us stay because we’re both the same age.”

“We could just drive through the night,” Jughead suggested.

“We’ve already been through this,” Betty said. “Under no circumstances would driving through the night be a _good_ idea.”

“We could take shifts,” Jughead replied.

“I barely have my learner’s permit!” Betty answered. “And you, my friend, aren’t twenty-one. You couldn’t even pass for twenty-one.”

“You’re sixteen, remind me again why you don’t have your driver’s license.”

“My mother says my ADD isn’t regulated enough for me to drive without adult supervision or something like that.”

“And you believe her?”

“No. . .” Betty sighed. “How about we go and get some pastrami and pickles for dinner from a Jewish deli?”

Jughead huffed. “Fine. We won’t talk about it then.”

“Come on, you and I both know that there’s really nothing to talk about. Mom controls my diet, she controls what I wear and where I go or when I do something. You know as well as I do that there’s no getting around it. This is the way it’s always been and will always be until I’m old enough to do something about it.”

“You could get emancipated,” Jughead said.

“You’ve been watching _One Tree Hill_ again. I don’t think I’d have a case to divorce my parents and besides, despite his faults, my father isn’t all that bad. Come on Juggie, I really want to eat! I’m _starving_!”

Jughead grinned. “By all means then, lead the way fair lady! You know I can’t ever turn down food!”

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t even know what this is. I obviously drink way to much Dunkin Donuts and watch WAY too much CW shows. And I wrote most of this on my drive up to New Hampshire in July. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I’ll be back next week with another chapter!
> 
> Until Next Time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jughead crossed his arms and stared at the smoke billowing from under the car hood, completely unhappy with his vehicle. He had just gotten it serviced before pulling out of Riverdale, it shouldn’t have been breaking down on the back road near a town that he hadn’t even heard of.

“It’s like a Hallmark movie,” Betty said, leaning out the window to talk to Jughead.

“It’s like a horror movie!” Jughead replied. “We’re both going to end up dead and nobody’s going to ever know.”

“How do you _ever_ manage to sleep with that brain of yours?” Betty teased as she got out of the car and stood beside him, pushing her sunglasses up on her head. “I’m going to take a peek, maybe it’s a quick fix.”

“Ah yes, I forgot you’re a grease queen,” Jughead answered, going to pop the hood for her.

“Any girl worth her salt knows a little about fixing a car,” Betty told him. “What if you break down on a backroad like this and you need to change out a tire and there’s no one around to help you?”

“I’d just calculate how long it would take for you to get to me and call you to come and help me change the tire.”

Betty rolled up her sleeves and stuck her tongue out at him. “Funny! Do you have any tools?”

 _“Funny!”_ Jughead parroted.

“It’s a valid question!” Betty answered.

“I’m the bookish, sensitive type. I don’t have much need for tools,” Jughead retorted.

“Well, that’s that then. I guess we’re going to have to walk into town and see if there’s a mechanic who can help us out. You better call your mother and tell her that we’ve been delayed and that we’ll be there as soon as we possibly can.”

“I was already planning on doing it! I’m not a complete child you know.”

Betty grinned at him over her shoulder. “I know. Come on, I’ll race you!”

“I _hate_ running!” Jughead grumbled as he stumbled into an awkward jog in order to at least keep up with her.

But she was as fast as a gazelle, probably because she was one of the top cross-country runners in their school and even their whole entire district and even in the summer, she kept her body in fighting condition.

Jughead preferred to be a spectator, an admirer of her’s who showed up to cheer her on and take her to get ice cream afterwards for a job well-done. Already he could feel a stitch in his side and burning in his lungs.

“Wait-wait up!” he managed to call out.

Betty stopped, laughing when she saw his red cheeks. She patted him on the back when he finally caught up with her, gasping for breath. “You need to get in shape, friend.”

“Thanks but no thanks!” Jughead answered, wheezing as he tried to straighten up and get his bearings. “Where are we anyways?”

“You weren’t paying attention to signs?” Betty asked, frowning.

“ _You_ weren’t paying attention to signs!? You’re the person who’s supposed to tell me these things!”

“I was counting on Siri to get us to Ohio and I definitely didn’t think we’d break down in some coastal town!” Betty said, stopping a passersby. “Excuse me, I know this is a weird question but could you tell me where we are?”

“Maine!” She answered, giving them a funny look as she walked away without telling them where in Maine they were exactly.

Betty looked at Jughead. “Okay, but how did we wind up in New England again? I think you better get your phone looked at, maybe the GPS is broken.”

“Beatrix Kiddo is _not_ broken!” Jughead said, looking offended.

“Beatrix Kiddo? You named your GPS _Beatrix Kiddo_?”

“After The Bride in _Kill Bill_ ,” Jughead explained.

Betty rolled her eyes. “I _know_ what it was a reference to! Remember how long the two of us have been friends?”

“How about we stop discussing the name of my GPS and find out where we are in Maine and if we can find a mechanic who can fix my car so we can be on our way?”

Betty took out her phone. “Hey Siri, where in Maine am I right now?”

_You are in York Beach, Maine._

“Are there any mechanics around here?”

_Sea Sand Automotives is 1.5 miles away._

Betty typed Sea Sand Automotives into Google and pulled up the number, she pressed the button and waited for somebody to pick up. It rang a few times before there was an answer.

“Sea Sand Automotives, this is Bernie speaking! How can I help you?” A female with a thick Maine accent asked.

“Um. Hi!” Betty replied. “I was wondering if you could possibly tow my friend’s car? It broke down and usually I could fix it but he doesn’t have the proper tools. He’s the sensitive bookish type, you see.”

Jughead rolled his eyes at her and she grinned at him.

“Well, sure I can come and tow ya!” Bernie answered. “Where are you right now?”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure because his GPS _Beatrix Kiddo_ is on the fritz as well,” Betty said.

Jughead rolled his eyes harder.

“Honey, are you close to any restaurants or anything?”

Betty looked around and saw a diner, she squinted at the sign to read the name in the mid-morning sunlight. “The Goldenrod,” she answered.

“Ah! I know where it is, you and your friend hang tight, I’ll be right there!” Bernie promised.

**.**

Almost exactly two minutes later, a tow truck was pulling up. A petite woman with short, salt-and-pepper hair climbed out of the truck and went over to Betty.

“I’m Bernie! You Betty?” she asked, adjusting her flannel button-down before reaching out to shake hands with the younger girl.

“I am. But I don’t own the car, I’m just a passenger,” Betty answered, looking around for Jughead. “Except my friend seems to have disappeared. He’s probably in the diner having a second breakfast. I’ll go and find him.”

“Do you want to point me in the direction of your car while you do that? I can take a look and tell you what’s going on when you get back.”

“Up the street,” Betty replied. “You can’t miss it, there’s smoke billowing from the engine.”

Betty pushed the door open to the Goldenrod and walked inside, she saw Jughead sitting near a window with a stack of waffles in front of him.

“Hey Betts,” he said.

“You are so predictable,” Betty told him.

“I was hungry and the diner was right here.”

“You should have told me where you were going.”

“You knew where I would be. You just said I was predictable,” Jughead replied, taking a bite of bacon and chewing. “Want some?”

“The mechanic is outside looking at the car, I think you should go and find out what’s going on,” Betty said.

Jughead huffed. “Why do I have to come and talk to the mechanic?”

“Because it’s your car,” Betty reminded him.

“You’re a good decision maker,” Jughead said. “I think I can trust you to deal with my vehicle.”

“Jughead!” Betty sighed.

“Fine! I’ll get it to go!” Jughead answered, signaling for his waitress. “I need a box and a check.”

The girl nodded and winked at him. “Coming right up!”

“What?” Jughead asked when he noticed Betty looking at him.

“She thinks that you’re cute,” Betty replied.

Jughead snorted. “Yeah. Okay.”

“What? It’s not out of the realm of possibility!” Betty argued. “Remember when Ethel had a crush on you?”

He remembered. He remembered it _too_ well if he were being honest, it had been totally awkward. And it had been even worse turning her down because regardless of his not liking her back, he hadn’t wanted to break his heart.

“I don’t want to think about it,” he answered. “And even if the waitress _does_ like me, it doesn’t matter. Hopefully we’re not going to be here longer than a few hours.”

**.**

“The good news is it’s a simple fix. The bad news is, I need to order the part and it might take a couple days to get here. So, you’re stuck here until I can get it in. You don’t have anywhere important to be, do you?”

Jughead sighed. “Where not in any hurry to be anywhere,” he replied. “We’re just taking a road trip, the destination isn’t too important.”

“That’s the spirit!” Bernie said, patting him on the back before hooking up the car to her tow truck. “I know Cutty Shark has vacancy, you better go and get yourself checked in! I’ll run your luggage by in a little bit.”

As luck would have it, there were two rooms left at the hotel that Bernie had recommended to them. Betty charged them to her father’s credit card and then handed Jughead his key.

“I guess you’ll be avoiding the Goldenrod diner,” she teased as they went to see their rooms. “Unless you actually think she’s cute too.”

Jughead waved her off. “Was she cute? I didn’t even notice.”

“It’s okay if you did,” Betty said. “Archie always tells me when he thinks a girl is cute or something. We’re pals, you don’t have to take my feelings into consideration. I’m not like other girls.”

“Trust me Betts, I didn’t notice what she looked like. I am not like Archie or any other guy in high school for that matter.”

“I know,” Betty replied, leaning against the door. “So, I guess you don’t notice any girls then.”

“Well, that’s totally untrue! I notice my mother and JB. And I’m friends with you, aren’t I? If I didn’t notice girls, there would be no way that I’d know you existed.”

“Kevin notices girls and he’s gay.”

“Trust me, I’m not gay!” Jughead said. “I’m going to go to the beach to take pictures. Do you want to come with me? I’ll let you try out my camera.”

“The one you never let anyone else touch?” Betty asked, brightening. “The one you worked extra hours at the Twilight drive-in to buy?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to get changed, I’ll be right back!”

“I’m going to take that as a yes!” Jughead called after her.

“It was!” Betty called back, throwing a smile at him over her shoulder.

**.**

Betty was sitting on the edge of her pool later on that day, dipping her foot in the clear water while she wrote in her journal and Jughead swam laps back and forth. He came up to her and pushed the hair away from his face.

“You’re sure you don’t want to come in?” Jughead asked, grinning at her.

Betty shook her head. “I don’t want to have to wash my hair before dinner,” she answered. “Besides, the sun feels nice and the water feels kind of cold.”

“The water’s great!” Jughead said, taking her wrist in his hand like he was about to pull her in with him.

“Mmmh, I don’t think so!” Betty replied.

“It would be so easy to grab you and yank you in,” Jughead mused.

“Yes but it would also be uncharacteristic of you too!” Betty said, shaking him off of her and standing up just in case he decided to go against his nature and drag her in with him.

Jughead dunked under the water and then got out of the pool. “Far be it from me to do anything uncharacteristic.”

“You’re not going to throw me in, are you?” Betty asked, backing away from him. “Because I swear, I’m never going to talk to you again if you do!”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Jughead said, going over to her and flinging his arms around her in a wet embrace.

She squirmed for a second and then surrendered when she realized it was just a hug and not an ulterior motive to get her anywhere near the pool. Jughead hugs were far and few between, she would always take one willingly when he offered it to her.

“Come on,” he said after a few seconds. “I’m starving!”

**.**

After they had eaten dinner, they went to the beach to watch the sunset. Jughead spread out one of his old blankets and flopped down, one of his second-hand bookstore finds in his hand. He patted the seat beside him and Betty joined him after a second, lying down on her stomach and propping her chin in her hands. She looked at Jughead expectantly.

“Read to me like you used to when we were younger,” she requested. “Please Juggie.”

Jughead, helpless to resist the perfect blonde next door, turned to the first page of the _Night Circus_ and began to read without any argument.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I officially finished this story, so I’m going to mass post it over the next few days. With the exception of tomorrow when I’ll post the last chapter in From Italy With Love. I hope you’ll take a drive with me, I’m looking forward to sharing this story with you! Tell me what you think, if you have the time or inclination.
> 
> Until Next time!


	4. Chapter 4

**.**

**Chapter 4**

“What do you mean it’s going to take longer than we expected for the part to get here?” Jughead asked, taking his beanie off and running his fingers through his hair.

“I think she means exactly what she said,” Betty answered.

Bernie put down the wrench she was holding. “Listen, I know the two of you have better things you’d like to do than sitting around York waiting for your car to be repaired. I might have something you can borrow if you’re interested. You’re just going to have to stop by and trade on your way back from wherever it is you’re going.”

Jughead looked at Betty. “I don’t know—”

“Your sister is waiting for you in Ohio,” Betty reminded him.

“I won’t loan you a car that I’m afraid you’ll crash,” Bernie said. “And whatever I give you to drive won’t breakdown in some out of the way town miles from where you’re supposed to be. You two seem like good kids, I think I can trust you. I just want you to go and enjoy yourselves. You’re only young once, enjoy it while you can!”

Betty laughed. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been young.”

“It’s true,” Jughead agreed. “We’ve both been told how old and responsible we are all our lives.”

“I can imagine,” Bernie replied dryly. “Listen, just take the car and get out of here. The only thing I want you to do is to have a good time and fill the tank with gas before you return it.”

**.**

“I can’t believe she let two strange kids borrow her car,” Betty said. “We could be junior Bonnie and Clydes or Kits and Hollys for all she knows.”

“I’m sure everyone’s first thought is that two kids from Riverdale are like notorious criminals from a Terrence Malick film,” Jughead answered. “Obviously, it was the farthest thought from her mind because here we are. . . on the road again.”

“Well, you never know!”

“And people say _my_ imagination is crazy. You almost have me beat, Betts!” Jughead told her, tossing her his iPod. “Here, put some music on. No use dwelling on whether somebody thinks we’re going to go on a country-wide killing spree.”

Betty typed in his password and went to his library. On their second day on the road, they had put together a playlist of stuff they both liked to listen to. Except for one or two songs, they both had very similar tastes and it had been easy to compromise on the stuff the other didn’t care for.

She pressed the shuffle button and plugged it into the AUX cord. A song from _the King & I _started to play, Jughead leaned over and turned the dial up, it was one of the musicals he wasn’t tragically opposed to. She’d caught him one night watching it at the Twilight when everybody else had been at a school dance, they’d spent the night together eating popcorn and orchard Skittles because they still had lime. It had been more fun than watching Archie flirt with Ginger Lopez and hoping someone would ask her to dance.

**.**

They arrived in Toledo at midnight. A full 12 hours  and 30 minutes later. Betty was dozing in the passenger seat, holding onto a light blanket with Christmas trees on it. The lights in his mother’s little rental were all on and he could see his sister’s face peering out of the curtains.

“Betts, where here,” he whispered, leaning over to shake her awake gently.

“Did I fall asleep?” Betty asked sleepily.

“For a little while,” Jughead answered.

“Oh. I’m sorry!” Betty tried to contain a yawn. “I guess I was tired. . .”

“It’s okay!” Jughead assured her as the lawn flooded with light and Gladys Jones came out of the house with Jelly Bean trailing behind her.

“You’re here!” She said just loud enough for the both of them to hear as they both exited the car at the same time. “You must be exhausted. You must be _starving_!”

“I could eat,” Jughead answered.

Gladys hugged him. “I knew you’d say that. I have homemade mac & cheese on the stove.” she turned to Betty. “It’s so good to see you again, sweetie! You’re stunning. Your mother must want to keep you under lock and key!”

“You have no idea, Mrs. Jones!” Betty replied cheerfully as she embraced the older woman.

“JB, stop being so shy! You remember Betty, don’t you? She used to help your brother babysit you when I worked at Pops.”

Jellybean rolled her eyes. “I remember Betty, mom.”

Gladys cleared her throat. “You should go and get some sleep, honey. I know you’re tired right now. You guys can catch up tomorrow!”

Jellybean almost sighed in relief, her attitude changed instantly. She stood on tip-toe and gave her mom a kiss, before waving to Jughead and Betty. “Goodnight guys, see you in the morning!”

“Come on!” Gladys said, looping her arm through Betty’s. “You can get your stuff after you guys have had something to eat.”

“We stopped at a Chick Fil A on the way here,” Betty replied. “Jughead was _famished_. His words not mine.”

“That was almost 5 hours ago,” Jughead reminded her as he trailed behind them.

“You ordered double of everything!” Betty retorted.

“I’m so glad you two are still friends!” Gladys interjected. “But I was a little surprised when Jughead told me that you were coming instead of Archie.”

“Mom!” Jughead whined.

“It was a good kind of surprised!” Gladys defended herself. “You know how much I’ve always liked Betty!”

“Everybody likes Betty!” Jughead said quickly, worried she might reveal accidentally reveal that he had always liked her or ask if they were _finally_ a couple.

He didn’t want Betty to find out he was in love with her at midnight in Ohio. He didn’t want her pity or to hear her say _“Oh! We’re not together! Jughead and I are_ just _good friends, Mrs. Jones!”_

“Not everyone. There’s still Cheryl Blossom,” Betty answered as they went inside and Gladys started to scurry around the kitchen. “ _She_ doesn’t like me all that much.”

Gladys tisked. “Her loss! Is paper okay?”

“Paper will be fine,” Betty assured her.

Jughead wanted to kiss her. He knew Cooper food never touched paper plates, not even at picnics. They had china for Sunday dinners, company and holidays and lapis-colored Fiesta ware for everyday use.

Gladys served them heaping piles of steaming mac & cheese and he dug in with relish.

**.**

He woke up to one of Betty’s obscure artists from one of her teen dramas playing and the smell of fried eggs, chocolate chip waffles and bacon. He went into the kitchen and found Betty and Jellybean cooking.

“Mom had an early class,” Jellybean explained. “Betty was just showing me how to use the waffle maker!”

“She’s a good student—” Betty said, smiling at him.

“I really only watched!” Jellybean interjected. “Betty just walked me through everything for the next time. I was afraid to mess up, I wanted breakfast to be special for you.”

“You’ll do it next time!” Betty assured her, pushing a strand of blonde hair away from her face that had fallen out of her messy bun.

Jughead couldn’t help but take her in, she was wearing a black, vintage cut Holly Golightly t-shirt and plaid pajama shorts. She was makeup free, long-legged, and barefoot. And he knew that if he wasn’t in love with her already, this would probably be the moment it happened. With her standing in his mom’s kitchen, teaching his little sister how to cook.

“You’re in a better mood this morning,” he said, forcing himself to look at his sister.

Jellybean smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Sorry about that, I was tired and you got here late.”

“Maine is 12 hours and 17 minutes away from Ohio,” Betty told her, sounding like Siri. “It was lucky the mechanic lent us one of her cars or we might not have even gotten here until the end of the week.”

“Well, when you put it that way. . . I guess getting here in the middle of the night isn’t _that_ bad.”

“Oh, it isn’t that bad!” Jughead said, tickling her side.

Jellybean shrieked in laughter. “Stop it Jug!” but her pleas fell on deaf ears as he persisted in tickling her even more.

“Breakfast’s ready!” Betty announced a few seconds later. “Why don’t you two sit down and I’ll serve you?”

Jughead straightened up. “Or I could serve you and Jellybean. Since you cooked and all,” he suggested.

Jellybean looked between her brother and her newfound girlfriend, smiling like she knew a secret.

“Okay!” Betty agreed, handing over the spatula and beaming at him. “Come on Jellybean, your brother’s going to serve _us_!”

“Just like the queens we are!” Jellybean said, plopping down at the head of the table. “So, I don’t know if mom told you but I want to go by _JB_ now. It’s cooler.”

“She told me,” Jughead answered, pouring a glass of orange juice and handing it to her. “Did you make coffee, Betts?”

“She did,” Jellybean replied. “Coffee pot’s near the stove, the mugs are over the sink! If you want iced coffee, there’s a bag of ice in the freezer and mom has a huge selection of flavored creamers in the fridge.”

Jughead made Betty an iced coffee since he knew it was her summer drink of choice. He put it down in front of her and she smiled gratefully at him before taking a sip.

“How many waffles?” Jughead asked.

“As many as I can eat!” Jellybean said enthusiastically. “I’m _starving_!”

Betty laughed and lowered her glass. “Oh, she _is_ your sister, Juggie!”

Jughead smiled at her. “Was there really any question about that though?”

**.**

After breakfast, they all cleaned up the kitchen and then went to get dressed. Betty had a guidebook and a plan of action for the day.  Jughead was more than happy to let her take the reigns and be the tour guide and to do something other than play license plate games and looking out for Dunkin Donuts on blue signs for food just for fun.

“We’re going to start with the Toledo Botanical Gardens,” Betty said as they got buckled in. “Because there’s free admission but it’s in the top 10 places to visit on Trip Advisor. Then I was thinking we could get dinner at Carlos Poco Loco before going to see a baseball game at Fifth Third Field.

“Baseball?” Jellybean repeated, pulling a face. “Why?”

“You know, you don’t have to come with us,” Jughead told her.

Jellybean raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you like baseball?”

“I always liked baseball,” Jughead said.

“No. You like _softball_ and that’s because Betty plays for the rec league.”

“I’m a Red Sox fan!” Jughead lied.

“Only because Bet—”

“Okay! That’s enough for right now JB!” Jughead said loudly. “Betty, put on some music, _please_!”

Jellybean leaned over the driver’s seat and looked at the playlist that Betty was scrolling through. “Do you have any One Direction on there?”

 _“NO!”_ Jughead and Betty said together.

Jellybean sat back in the seat and threw her hands in the air. “Okay. I was just asking!”

“Since when do you like One Direction?”

“She’s only 10, she can like One Direction!” Betty told him.

“I don’t like One Direction!” Jellybean protested. “Not as much as other girls in my school does anyways!”

Jughead just shook his head.

Betty reached over and patted her on the knee. “Don’t worry, JB. You can like One Direction or not. It’s totally up to you and nobody should judge you for it.”

“Oh good because although I do not like their entire discography, they do have a _few_ songs that aren’t too bad. You should listen to them sometime, Jughead!”

“Sure,” Jughead said.

“Neither of us will judge you if you do,” Betty teased.

“Good to know,” Jughead answered, smiling at her.

**.**

“I want a corndog and cotton candy!” Jellybean said as they stood in line at the ballpark. “And Cracker Jacks!”

“As appealing as all that sounds right now, you won’t like it when you throw up,” Jughead told her. “And besides, Betty and I are on a budget. So, you can pick _one_ thing!”

Jellybean sighed. “Well, I don’t know what to choose.”

“If you get a corndog, you can share my French fries,” Betty replied. “Ballpark fries are the best.”

“But not as good as Pop’s,” Jughead added, nudging Betty.

Betty laughed. “Nothing is a good as Pop’s,” she agreed.

“Oooh, they have hamburgers!” Jellybean squealed, she had already gotten used to ignoring her brother and his best friend’s quasi-flirting over the course of the day. “Could I have one _and_ French fries?”

“Yes,” Betty answered. “Don’t worry, Juggie. I’m good for it.”

“But you already bought the tickets!” Jughead said.

“And I have my dad’s credit card. When he gave it to me, he told me to enjoy myself. I will definitely enjoy watching JB enjoy her burger and fries.”

“Fine,” Jughead relented but only because he couldn’t resist her Bette Davis eyes or his sister’s cute little pout. “You can pay for them but I really do owe you one.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Betty replied as they stepped up to the counter. “Hey, I’ll have two cheeseburgers and one plain. We want fries and Cokes with that too. And the largest bag of cotton candy that you have.”

“Betts—”

“I’m in the mood for a little cotton candy, Jug!” Betty said, swiping her card when they told her to as she winked at Jellybean. “Besides, how often are you going to get to see JB? Give her some good memories to hold onto until you see each other again.”

“Yeah, well, don’t make her like you more than she likes me!” Jughead half-joked.

“I wouldn’t be too worried about that,” Betty answered as she handed Jellybean her soda. “Right, JB? Jughead will always be your favorite on principal.”

“Yup!” Jellybean agreed cheerfully. “Don’t worry Big Brother, you’ll always be my favorite.”

Jughead swept her up into a gentle neck hold and gave her a noogie. “I was just kidding sis. I totally would understand if Betty was your favorite. I’d even be okay with it.”

Betty smiled at him.

**.**

Jellybean fell asleep on the drive home from the baseball game while Jughead and Betty sat in comfortable silence.

**.**

A few days later, they left for the next stop on their map. Gladys and Jellybean both made them promise to come back for another visit which they both said they would.

And then they were on their way again.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is shamelessly not great. I wrote it during a very hectic time in my life this summer, and though it’s not my most favorite piece of work, I decided to share it with you anyways. Hope you’ll leave a review!
> 
> Until Next Time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

They were on a long stretch of deserted road for what felt like the fifth day in a row. Sometimes it felt like they were headed nowhere, other times Jughead didn’t want to go anywhere. He was content to drive with Betty in the passenger seat while she sang along with alt-j, her barefeet propped up on the dashboard.

“Are we still planning on camping under the stars at some point?” Betty asked, as she stopped singing mid-song.

Jughead shrugged. “I don’t know. Are you interested?”

“Let’s do it tonight,” Betty answered. “We can just pull off the side of the road for the night.”

“Good girl Elizabeth Cooper suggesting something like that!” Jughead said. “Whatever will your mother say if I get you arrested? She might never let us hang out together again.”

“We’ll be discreet about it, wait until dark and leave at dawn,” Betty replied. “I have an older sister who’s perfected sneaking around. I’ve accidentally picked up on some tricks along the way. This will be one of the first times I get a chance to use them though.”

“Too afraid you’ll get caught?”

Betty shook her head. “No. I’ve never had anybody to break the rules for yet.”

Jughead knew she was right, he thought about the pastel-and-ponytailed girl the boys at school had created in the image of Betty Cooper. They weren’t lining up around the block to take her out on dates. Personally he thought she should be everyone’s type and that any guy would be lucky to have her.

“I’d be happy to break the rules with you,” he said instead.

“It wouldn’t be really breaking rules,” Betty told him. “If there aren’t any rules to break. We’ll just have to make sure there aren’t any ‘no trespassing’ signs around that could get us into any trouble.”

Jughead smirked. “You are quite the rule breaker there, Betts.”

She pushed him playfully. “Shut up!” she replied.

**.**

“Just look at it,” Betty breathed later that night when they were stretched out on sleeping bags underneath a starry sky. “You don’t have a view like that in Riverdale.”

“But Riverdale is still a little slice of the idyllic American dream,” Jughead reminded her.

“And I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” Betty said. “But sometimes I want to go somewhere else.”

“Yeah,” Jughead agreed. “Me too.”

“Jughead. . . look, it’s the Milky Way,” Betty whispered, pointing at the sky and sighing. “Do you know the Chinese legend about it?”

Jughead nodded even though he knew she couldn’t see him. “Tell me about it,” he said aloud because he liked it when she told stories, liked the way she spun words holding everybody captive even if they could help it.

“Once there was a seamstress named Vega who made garments so beautiful the gods wanted her to make clothes exclusively for them and she did. Altair was a poor shepherd who supported not only himself but his family. His life revolved around his herds but he was happy. One day, while in the herd, he saw Vega bathing in a river. . .

“She was breathtaking. Her skin as smooth as silk, her eyes forever twinkling and when she smiled, time stood still. Everyone was attracted to her voice, she was the loveliest thing that Altair had ever seen and he couldn’t just let her walk out of his life. They were very different people, from very different backgrounds. But despite all of this, they fell in love. They did find one thing they had in common, their love for watching birds and listening to their song. They spent so much time together it angered the gods because Vega’s sole focus wasn’t on them anymore. They separated the lovers by plucking them up into the sky and placing them on opposite sides of the celestial river, better known as the Milky Way. But the sky gods were kinder, every year on the seventh day of the seventh month their paths cross and they are allowed to spend the day together.”

Jughead released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. “You just took different parts from all the different legends about them and combined them into your own story,” he said.

“I did,” Betty answered. “So what? Did I not do a good job?”

“You are a much better storyteller than Archie. I’m sure if he were here with me right now, he’d be attempting to tell a ghost story and failing.”

Betty laughed. “That’s for sure. Remember when we used to camp out in the treehouse? His stories are stuff of _legends_ in all the bad kind of ways! You were always much better at telling ghost stories than he ever was.”

“I could tell you one right now,” Jughead suggested.

“And ruin my love story and the atmosphere?” Betty replied. “ _No thank you!_ But if you have to tell me a story then tell me about something happy—”

“Something happy?” Jughead repeated. “Listen. . .”

His heart skipped a beat, thinking maybe he would say it with billions of stars as their only witness. But his mind caught up with his mouth and he changed his mind. Remembering something he’d read in a book of tiny stories that he’d purchased on their book excursion in New York City.

“The universe is infinite in every direction. So she is the very center of it, yet somehow so is he. And they are so very far apart,” he paraphrased, changing the pronouns from _I_ and _you_ so it would be a story and not a confession.

“Go on,” Betty said.

“Okay,” Jughead replied, creating a story around the two people in the quote, a story about two people who were in the same universe and finally crashed into each other faster than the speed of light because it was inevitable.

She fell asleep not knowing what it was really about.

**.**

Jughead woke up as soon as it started to dawn. Betty was still sleeping soundly.

“Betts!” Jughead poked her. “Maybe we should get going. It’s morning.”

“Five more minutes,” Betty murmured, turning on her back and throwing her arm across her face.

“No. Now!” Jughead answered. “We don’t want to get caught, remember?”

Betty opened her eyes. “We’re not breaking any rules though and I’m tired.”

“We’ll find a place to get coffee and breakfast,” Jughead promised as he helped her sit up.

“But it’s not like we have anywhere to be,” Betty protested as she stood up and stretched, her clothes from the day before were impossibly wrinkled. She scraped her hair back into a ponytail.

“Well, let’s go and find somewhere to be. We’re in Kentucky, let’s go and eat like the locals or something.”

Betty rolled her eyes. “Food’s always the first thing you suggest, you do realize this.”

“Okay, we can stop by a guest center and get some of those tourist attraction pamphlets you love so much,” Jughead replied. “How about that?”

“Alright,” Betty finally agreed as she folded her sleeping bag neatly and snapped the black elastic bands over each end. “Then let’s go and have an adventure!”

They found a guest center and used the facilities to wash the sleep out of their eyes, to brush their teeth, and to change into fresh clothes. Then they each chose five different brochures that advertised interesting things to do.

On the way back to the car, Jughead’s stomach rumbled loudly.

Betty laughed and patted his flat belly. “We’ll feed you soon! I think I saw a sign for a Waffle House off the next exit.”

“You sure do know your way to my heart, Betty Cooper.”

“I do have the home court advantage,” Betty said. “I’ve known you my whole entire life, after all. Most girls wouldn’t stand a chance unless I clued them in. You just say when and who, and I’ll let them know exactly how to win you.”

Jughead opened the passenger door and didn’t say anything.

**.**

Fortified by coffee, the best hash browns he had ever tasted and all the pecan waffles he could ever want to eat, Jughead was ready to do whatever Betty wanted to do even if it included going on one of the hikes she was always talking about doing.

But she was wearing a dress, so she suggested they just go for a walk in one of the state parks around the area.

Jughead agreed gratefully, he had never been much for hiking even though it was something he had done on occasion because Betty liked doing it and he wanted the opportunity to spend time with her.

So, he drove the hour to the state park she had picked out, retrieved his camera from the trunk and paid the fee to get in. They consulted a map and picked one of the easiest trails to take.

“You usually plan better than sandals and a vintage sundress,” Jughead commented as they started down the grassy path. “Where are your hiking boots and cargo shorts, anyways?”

“I didn’t really count on hiking,” Betty answered, she smiled at him teasingly. “You hate it so much, I didn’t think I could get you to do it _again_. I am surprised that I’ve gotten you to go as often as I have anyways.”

Jughead shook his head and raised his camera, snapping a picture of her. “I really don’t mind hiking with you that much. You always pack _great_ lunches!”

“The only way I know how to bribe you. But we’ve already been over this,” Betty replied. “Remember?”

Jughead took another picture. “Sure. Stop walking! The light is perfect.”

Betty sighed. “Really, Juggie. You always take pictures of me when we go out into nature.”

“You’re terribly photogenic and nature loves you!” Jughead answered as he spotted a patch of sunflowers. He handed her his camera. “I wonder how much trouble we’ll get if I pick those and make a crown for you. I’m going to do it, if anybody says there’s a rule against it, we’ll say didn’t know we weren’t supposed to!”

Betty followed him, trying hard not to laugh.

A few minutes later, he was pulling her hair out of it’s tight ponytail and placing the sunflower crown on her head and taking the camera back from her.

“Well, what do you think?” Betty asked, twirling around for him as he took more pictures.

“I have always thought that you are the epitome of loveliness,” Jughead answered sincerely, it was the most honest thing he’d ever said about his feelings for her.

Betty blushed and stopped spinning to look at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome! Now pretend you’re picking the sunflowers!” Jughead told her because he loved good framing when he took pictures.

Betty obliged, her smile shone brighter than the sun.

**.**

The next thing they knew, they had stumbled on a wedding by chance.  There was no way to get past it without walking through the dance floor where the bride and her dad were dancing to “Sweet Child O’Mine”. They would only wind up interrupting the sweet father-daughter moment if they tried to sneak past them.

This is how they wound up sticking around at a reception for a couple they didn’t even know.

The bride, petite and blonde and not looking a day over 20 caught them trying to leave after the song had ended. Instead of being angry that they’d crashed her wedding accidentally, she invited them to stay when they explained what they were doing.

Betty agreed to stay since she wanted to make everyone happy.

Jughead couldn’t protest either, there was a buffet and wedding cake.

**.**

Jughead found Betty sitting on a tulle covered high chair near the bar, nursing a Shirley Temple and eating a piece of cake.

“And where have you been, friend?” Betty asked when she saw him. “You disappeared on me!”

“Sorry,” Jughead said. “I was hiding. . . weddings aren’t really my thing. I was wondering if you were ready to go yet.”

Betty slid off the chair and held out her hand to him. “Not yet,” she answered. “I want to dance at least once before we leave and since you’re the only person I know here—”

Jughead sighed. “I’m not much for dancing.”

“It’s just swaying to the music,” Betty replied. “There’s not much skill involved.”

“Betty. . .” Jughead trailed off, there was no way to get out of it without her wondering why he wouldn’t just do it. “Okay, I’ll dance with you but just _once_ and then we’re going. Deal?”

“Deal!” Betty agreed enthusiastically, dragging him to the dance floor and putting her arms around his neck.

He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. She smelled like grenadine syrup and buttercream frosting and like the perfume that had started to cling in all the places in the car they were driving and to his clothes.

His breath caught in his throat and he knew without a doubt that one day in the foreseeable future “Lay Lady Lay” would go on his untitled playlist with all the other songs that reminded him of Betty.

Betty rested her forehead against and he closed his eyes, making a memory for when it was all over and he’d give her back to her family and Archie and even to their small hometown of Riverdale.

But for the night. . . just for a few seconds he was going to pretend like they were something more than good friends. He was still good at separating fact from fiction, it would be easy to let go of the fantasy when the song had ended.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was by far my favorite chapter to write of this whole story. I hope you enjoyed it too and that you’ll tell me what you thought about it! Be back tomorrow with another chapter for you.
> 
> Until Next Time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to MotherMaple and jandjsalmon for their support of this story. It means so much to me!

**.**

**Chapter 6**

“What do you mean you only have _one_ room left?” Betty asked, frowning.

The girl behind the check-in counter shrugged. “There’s only _one_ room left,” she repeated. “There’s a bunch of stuff going this weekend. There’s an Adele concert, _Kinky Boots, the Musical_ , a chocolate chip cookie competition, and two weddings.”

“Okay,” Betty checked the girl’s name tag. “Lucy, are there any other hotels available? My friend and I can’t share a room, my parents will find out and come find me. Then my mother will ship me off to the convent that’s far, far away from the United States.”

Lucy sighed. “I guess I could check for you but I’m not making any promises. Like I said, there’s a lot going on this weekend and we are right near Dollywood. Dolly Parton might even make an appearance tomorrow.”

“Ooooh, _Dollywood_!” Jughead whispered to Betty, smirking.

Betty elbowed him. _“Juggie! Shhh!”_

Lucy returned. “So, I made some calls and it looks like all the hotels are booked up for the weekend. Sorry.”

“How about you give me the list and _I_ call?” Betty replied. “Just to double-check. Because if I have to share a bed with Jughead and my parents find out, I’m going to become your pen pal when I get sent to that convent.”

“The room has two beds,” Lucy told her.

“You have parents, do you really think they’re going to believe that?” Betty asked. “May I please see that list, Lucy?”

“I’m not really supposed to recommend other hotels to guests—”

“If you do give me some recommendations, I’ll leave a good review on Yelp.”

Lucy huffed. “Okay! _Fine!_ But don’t tell anybody you heard it from _me_!”

After Betty put a few calls into hotels in the surrounding area and came up without a reservation, she finally decided to take the last remaining room at the Aloft they were sitting in. Lucy smirked the whole time she booked their room and Jughead wished there was a way to wipe the smug look off her face.

“Is there any way you can make it look like I booked two rooms?” Betty asked anxiously.

Lucy frowned. “What, do you think I am? A computer hacker? If I was, I sure wouldn’t be working here!”

“You don’t have to be sarcastic!” Jughead interjected.

Lucy rolled her eyes and pushed a white envelope in their direction. “Here you go. Enjoy your stay at the Aloft Gatlinburg!”

**.**

The one hotel room was their second stroke of bad luck. Jughead was sure the third one was coming, things had been going well for too long for something catastrophic _not_ to happen. Things never went his way for too long.

He almost expected Hal and Alice Cooper to descend on him and Betty a few hours after they’d put the hotel on the credit card. But it was almost midnight and they were hours into a marathon of _Say Yes To the Dress_ reruns on TLC and they hadn’t even heard from her parents.

Betty kept pacing around the room and checking her phone every five seconds while Jughead watched her from his bed.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he told her. “If your parents put you in a convent, I’ll come and break you out then we’ll run away together.”

Betty looked up from her phone. “Oh? And where would we go?”

“Somewhere far, far away where nobody we knew could ever find us,” Jughead told her. “Maybe a deserted island somewhere like the Swiss Family Robinson. Remember how we used to play that after we watched the Disney movie?”

Betty nodded. “Things were so much simpler then.”

Jughead patted the seat beside him. “Just relax. Your mother and father aren’t here right now and if they do show up, maybe Lucy will vouch for us and tell them there really wasn’t any room in the inn for the two of us.”

Betty looked doubtful as she stretched out beside him and abandoned her phone. “So, have I missed anything interesting?”

“Not really, Olivia is about to blow her budget because it’s a Pnina Tornai. Whatever _that_ means,” Jughead replied. “What kind of idiot would spend a lot of money on a dress she’s only going to wear once?”

“Jughead, you have a lot to learn about women,” Betty told him.

**.**

Jughead woke up with his arms wrapped around Betty’s legs and with a _What Not to Wear_ rerun playing on TV. Somehow they’d fallen asleep during the course of the night.

He thought he was dreaming, he had dreamed of waking up beside her more times than he could count and then reality hit him, they were still sharing a room when they weren’t supposed to.

He shook her gently. “Betty! Betty wake up!” he said urgently.

“What?” Betty asked sleepily as she sat up. “What’s going on Juggie?”

“We fell asleep in the same bed!” Jughead informed her.

Betty was suddenly wide awake as she jumped out of the bed and pushed her hair away from her face. “Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap!” she repeated over and over again.

“It’s not like they’ll find out about _this_ ,” Jughead said. “We’re both still dressed and I’m pretty sure we didn’t mean to fall asleep. Especially not together.”

Betty frantically looked around for her phone and then extracted it from underneath the pillow it was poking out of. She unlocked her screen and scrolled through her texts.

“I still haven’t heard from them,” she told him, looking up from her phone. “But maybe we should go home now. Unless you have anything else you want to see before we leave.”

Jughead shook his head, maybe it would have been fun to go to Dollywood or see the Smoky Mountains but there would be other trips when he’d get to see them and maybe she’d be by his side again.

“No. Let’s go home,” he answered. “If it’ll make you feel better, we can go home.”

“Thank you.” Betty went to her suitcase and got some new clothes out. “I’m going to get cleaned up. I’ll be out in a little bit.”

Jughead nodded. He felt like something was ending, once they got back to Riverdale, everything was going to go back to normal and he still couldn’t shake the feeling that they were going to run into more bad luck.

**.**

It happened somewhere between Kentucky and Tennessee.

Betty started complaining about a headache. It was nothing, she promised, but she wondered if they could stop for the night even though it was barely 3pm yet. Usually, she was able to sleep her migraines off with a dose of Advil.

Jughead agreed and pulled off the nearest exit and into the nearest hotel even though it was a Hilton. He used the rest of his money to pay for a room and helped her climb into bed after feeding her two blue-colored gel pills with some Coca-Cola.

He lay down next to her and stroked her temple, she closed her eyes against his touch. She looked so fragile lying against the white pillow. Her hair was out of its usual ponytail and hanging around her shoulders, her skin paler than usual.

“Betty. . .” he whispered cautiously, sliding his hand into her’s and lacing their fingers together. “There’s something I need to tell you. . . something I should have told you a long time ago.”

“Mmmmh?” Betty murmured as she shifted deeper into the covers, drifting in and out of sleep.

Jughead released a deep breath. “I should have said this a long time ago. But there was never an opportunity and rejection, as cliché as this is going to sound, scared me. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with this locked up inside of me. So, just in case. . . here it is. I love you. I have ever since we were little kids. You are a part of me, you see and I don’t know if we’ll ever get the chance to be more than friends but. . . still. . . I love you. Betty?”

He was equal parts relieved and disappointed when he realized she was actually sleeping. He rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling. He wondered if his confession had somehow reached her in the moments between waking and dreaming and if her subconscious would try to do anything with it while she slept.

He hoped it wouldn’t.

He hoped it would.

Jughead didn’t know what he wanted.

He looked at Betty again, his heart constricted a little bit in his chest. He wanted her.

**.**

“I had a dream last night,” she told him the next morning as she buttered an asiago cheese bagel the next morning, she looked worse for the wear but her migraine had dulled to a headache.

“Oh? What did you dream about?” Jughead asked even though he had an inclining what she was going to say.

“I dreamed that you said you loved me,” Betty answered. “But that’s not possible, right? We’re just friends, you and me.”

“The best of friends!” Jughead replied quickly. “Besides, you still like Archie! I would never try and get in the way of that—”

Betty waved him off. “I haven’t heard from Archie in weeks. I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. Listen, Jug. . . I think it’s a good idea if I fly home. I called Polly when I woke up this morning and she ordered a ticket for me. Could you drop me off at the airport later? If you can’t, I’ll take a taxi or something. My flight leaves in a few hours.”

Jughead nodded. “I-I’ll drop you off.”

Betty stood up. “Thank you. I’m going to go and pack something.”

Jughead looked at her. “Betty, what do you want me to say?”

“Is there really anything to say, Jug?” Betty replied. “For all I know, it was just a dream. A manifestation of my imagination. I think we’ve been spending too much time together and I just need time to sort out my thoughts. Maybe you can sort out your own and when you know, you can come and see me. Or I’ll come to see you. . . it’s just, I’m so confused right now.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said as she walked away.

**.**

Jughead dropped her off at the airport like she had asked him too. He opened the trunk and helped her with her bags.

“So, I’ll see you when I get home?” he asked hopefully.

Betty lifted her chin to look at him. “Yes. I’d like that,” she replied, giving him a quick hug. “Have a safe trip, Juggie.”

He watched her go through the doors, lugging her suitcase behind her. He wondered if this is what rejection felt like. It was worse than he ever imagined it would be.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The booking thing happened to me and my family on our road trip this year. Except it was a Ramada and we had a reservation that they misplaced. Anyways. . . one more chapter left and then this story is finished. I hope you’ll tell me what you thought of this chapter! I’ll be back with more tomorrow.  
> Just a quick note too, in my original draft of this chapter. . . which I wrote two weeks before the SF/Sprousehart trip, I had them watching Toddlers and Tiaras. Needless to say, I changed it QUICKLY afterwards just so no one would accuse me of copying real life events.
> 
> Anyways.
> 
> Until Next Time!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to janjsalmon and Jennz for reviewing chapter 6!

**.**

**Chapter 7**

The drive seemed longer without Betty in the passenger seat. He missed her conversation, the smell of her perfume. The way she talked over audiobooks and how she would randomly break into show tunes from musicals like _the Last Five Years_ and _Fun Home_ because she wanted to see him huff and puff in annoyance. He looked at his cellphone and contemplated calling her. Just to hear her voice.

He sighed loudly. He was being pathetic. It wasn’t like this would last forever. She had told him that they would see each other again when they got home. It didn’t stop him from feeling mopey and wanting to wallow in sad love songs.

_I love you._

Had she been asking him to say it to her face? Had she really heard him and used the dream as an excuse to bring it up? Did she _want_ him to say it? After all these years, did she love him too? He didn’t want to know. He hoped so.

Jughead leaned forward and turned the radio on so he wouldn’t be alone with his thoughts. But she was in every lyric of every song. So, at the next rest stop he logged into his audiobook account and hit play, Jim Dale’s voice came over the speakers and he drove the rest of that day listening to Harry Potter.

He made it to Maine in record time because he didn’t have Betty asking him to stop every single time she saw a cute roadside stand or the exit for an attraction in one of her brochures or making him stop overnight because he looked tired.

Bernie was working on a mini-van when he pulled up. She smiled when she saw him.

“Back from seeing America, I see!” She said, wiping her hands off on a greasy rag. “How was it?”

“Great,” Jughead answered half-heartedly.

Bernie looked over his shoulder and frowned. “Where’s your girl?”

Jughead shrugged. “She’s not my girl,” he answered.

“Your girl or not, what happened to her?” Bernie asked.

“Back in Riverdale by now,” Jughead replied. “I guess somewhere along the line, things got confused and I might have ruined the friendship.”

Bernie pursed her lips together. “She didn’t feel the same way?”

“I didn’t ask,” Jughead admitted. “I didn’t really tell her how I felt.”

Bernie sighed and went to her desk to get his keys. “Here, I fixed your car. It should be as good as new. Maybe even better than before!”

“Thanks,” Jughead said.

Bernie took a good long look at him. “Maybe you should stop for the night and get some sleep. You look exhausted. What are you running on anyways? Coffee and doughnuts?”

“You’re not wrong,” Jughead replied.

“You should stay here a few days,” Bernie said. “Get some rest, clear your head. I’m sure things will look better when you’ve eaten properly and spent some time around the ocean. The ocean helps everyone see things clearly after a while.”

Jughead nodded. It wasn’t like he had anywhere else to be or anything else to do with his time.

**.**

He woke up early the next morning and went to get breakfast. Afterwards, he took a long walk on the beach like Bernie had suggested. While he took pictures of the foamy water, of the tide coming in, of Nubble Lighthouse, he thought about her. About the way she had looked on their last morning together.

Had there been hope in her eyes or had it just been a figment of his imagination? A product of wishful thinking? Did she want him to say the words aloud, to her face? Being in a car together couldn’t change a lifetime of feelings for another person, could it?

Jughead was more confused than ever.

The whole month of July had been confusing.

There had been moments she had looked at him over iced coffees or books. There had been moments she had touched him casually and everything had felt different between them. The dance at the wedding, the night they’d fallen asleep together in the hotel room.

He knew he at least owed her the truth. Even if he had made up the whole thing in his head because he was seeing something he _wanted_ to see.

He went to a gift shop and purchased a postcard with Long Beach on it. He flipped it over and addressed it to her in black ink. He tapped his pen against the worn wooden bench, thinking about what he’d say. How he’d phrase it. He was a writer, it should have been easy. But telling the truth rarely ever was.

Jughead settled for keeping it short and sweet.

_Dear Betty,_

_It wasn’t a dream. . ._

He paused and looked out over the ocean, sighing before continuing.

_I said it right before you fell asleep. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOU!!! I know I should say it to you when you’re wide awake, when we are face-to-face. I am getting there. Working up the courage to do it the right way. Please let this be my start. I’ll see you when I get home._

_Yours forever (?)_

_Jughead_

He bought a stamp and dropped it in a mailbox before he had a chance to second-guess himself, to change his mind. Then he walked away, leaving it behind him.

He’d wait a couple days to let the postcard get to her before he went home.

**.**

That night, he sat down in the Goldenrod Cafe with his laptop. He ordered a cheeseburger and Coke, opened a new document and began to type.

_Our story begins the day after 4th of July, in an all-American town, in a booth in a diner. A teenage loner was supposed to go on a road trip with his best friend but there was a change of plans and he ended up in a car with the girl of his dreams in an adventure you can only read about in young adult novels._

_There weren’t any murders except for in the podcasts they listened to, revenge plots except for in audiobooks, or gang activity except for the crime shows they’d watch at night. The only thing there was were two kids, the open road, lots of music, and one epic detour._

**.**

Jughead was finally home again and everything was just as he had left it. He had almost expected it to change completely in his absence and he was so glad for the familiarity of it all.

He stopped in to have an early dinner at Pop Tate’s Diner. On his way out afterwards he saw Betty outside the library, sitting on her pink Schwinn in gingham shorts, a navy sleeveless blouse, and acrylic red sunglasses while she chatted with one of the Pussycats.

Jughead parallel parked the car and crossed the street. Without thinking about it, he pulled Betty off her bicycle and kissed her mid-sentence even though he wasn’t sure how she would react. It was the most macho thing he had ever done in his life and he second-guessed himself because he didn’t want to be _that_ guy. The one who did this kind of stuff without a girl’s permission.

“Jughead!” Betty said, looking a little flustered when they pulled away.

“I’m going to leave the two of you to it then. I’ll see you later, Betty!”

“Okay, Val!” Betty replied, she turned to Jughead. “You’re back! You didn’t tell me you were coming back today!”

“I didn’t really know myself,” Jughead answered.

“I-I got your postcard!” Betty told him. “I don’t understand why it’s so hard for you to say it to my face, Juggie. It’s not like I going to bite.”

“Bite, no. . . but rejection is a real possibility,” Jughead said. “All my life, I’ve known it should be you and Archie. You’d make the perfect couple, and I’ll make the perfect. . . best friend who shows up every once in a while and pined after you while you took care of me for a couple days.”

Betty bit her lip. “Juggie. . . I _do_ love Archie. Up until this summer, I thought I was in love with him. I just. . . I always thought eventually he’d be in love with me too. So, I pinned all my hopes on that hypothetical someday. I just. . . I never realized you were there the whole time too. If we didn’t go on that road trip together, I think I’d still be waiting for him. But somewhere between here and sleeping under the stars, I fell in love with you. And it wasn’t because you were there or the only one to talk to. It wasn’t because I was lonely or missing Archie—”

“Is this where you say when you found the person you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to start right away?” Jughead joked lamely.

“Haha. . . _no_!” Betty replied. “But maybe it’s the part where I say _I love you too_.”

Jughead sighed. “You mean I have to say it _again_? Betty, I’ve already said it twice!”

“One time you thought I was asleep and the second time it was in a postcard. It was the coward’s way out!”

“Alright! Alright! I love you!” Jughead said surprised at how easily it came out with her standing in front of him. “I love you,” he repeated slowly, with more emotion, because he didn’t have to.

“I love you too,” Betty replied, standing on tiptoe to kiss him. She stopped and beamed at him. “Hi,” she said softly.

“Hey,” Jughead whispered back, so excited for the beginning of this particular chapter.

**The End**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s all for this story! I have a few one-shots I’m trying to work out. One’s for Halloween, I’m trying to get that written in the next 6 days. I hope you enjoyed this particular story and that you’ll tell me what you thought

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyy! Welcome all to my new story! It’s not really finished yet and I know I have to get around to writing “From Italy, With Love”. I will in good time, I was taking a break to try and finish this story for the Het Big Bang. Things did not go according to plan, so you get it half-finished. I hope you’re ready for an end of the summer trip. Tell me what you think, I love hearing your thoughts!


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